UK and allies sanction Israeli ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich over Gaza comments
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office building on King Charles Street, London
Middle East Eye reports on June 2025:
The United Kingdom and several of its allies sanctioned two far-right Israeli ministers on Tuesday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, over “their repeated incitement of violence against Palestinian communities” in Gaza, and in the occupied West Bank.
UK Foreign Secretery David Lammy said in a joint statement along with the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway that the decision was the “only way to guarantee security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long term stability in the region.”
“Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights,” he said. “These actions are not acceptable. This is why we have taken action now – to hold those responsible to account. “We will strive to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate release of the remaining hostages by Hamas which can have no future role in the governance of Gaza, a surge in aid and a path to a two-state solution,” he added.
The move came as 96 British MPs called on the government to immediately suspend the UK’s trade agreement with Israel, not only the free trade agreement talks that were halted last month.
“The agreement explicitly includes respect for human rights as an “essential element” making it more than a political commitment. It is a binding legal condition,” they wrote on Tuesday in an open letter. “When this essential element is breached, as is the case with the serious violations currently being committed, the agreement itself provides the UK with the legal right to suspend or terminate its provisions, in whole or in part.” They said failure to act now would not only undermine the integrity of the agreement but also signal “tolerance for grave breaches of international law”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the decision by allies to impose sanctions, saying on Tuesday that Washington “condemns” the move. “These sanctions do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war,” he said in a statement. “We reject any notion of equivalence: Hamas is a terrorist organization that committed unspeakable atrocities, continues to hold innocent civilians hostage, and prevents the people of Gaza from living in peace.”